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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 25 May 2026 at 5:52pm | IP Logged | 1
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BBCIt’s been said that AI proves the existence of the human soul, as it shows us what art looks like without one.
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 352
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| Posted: 25 May 2026 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | 2
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It's interesting - and was a topic I read about on this forum - that there's a compelling argument relating to our lack of having "free will." If by that standard we are products of our "programming (DNA)" and "environment," then how are we different from AI?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 10 June 2026 at 12:06pm | IP Logged | 3
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The notion of “free will” is severely compromised by the notion that the Big Bang (whatever form it took) not only created all of infinite space in the same instant, but also all of time. If the Future already exists, free will is an illusion at best.
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Scott Gray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 88
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| Posted: 11 June 2026 at 10:35am | IP Logged | 4
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Free will would only be an illusion if there was a being who could exist *outside* time and be able to witness every event at once.
So free will *only* becomes an illusion if God exists!
Edited by Scott Gray on 11 June 2026 at 10:37am
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 11 June 2026 at 11:45pm | IP Logged | 5
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I’m really not sure what one has to do with the other, Scott.
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Scott Gray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2012
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 10:54am | IP Logged | 6
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Evan -- life only becomes a pre-written story if somebody can read the entire book *ahead* of the characters.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 11:30am | IP Logged | 7
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Remember the scope of the universe. Life is of very small consequence. If all of space/time came into being at the same moment, then what we perceive as the passage of time is really just the universe unspooling towards us. Every “decision” is already out there, waiting for us to catch up.
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 11:54am | IP Logged | 8
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Scott, I understand the first part of your statement in terms of your explanation, but there's a lot of ground between that and "free will can only be an illusion if God exists."
I think a lot of scientists who call into question the existence of free will would be surprised to learn they're advocating for some kind of deism.
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Steve Coates
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2014
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 12:11pm | IP Logged | 9
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Usually the notion of free-will is associated with an action, a choice between two or more things, step forward, step back, step left, step right.
If everything is happening now or has happened now and there is no free-will than there is no free-thought.
I shudder at being so constrained to have no choice and even more to no free-thought.
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Scott Gray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 88
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | 10
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John Byrne: Every “decision” is already out there, waiting for us to catch up.
********
But they're decisions that *we* make. We always have made them and we always will.
We're not acting out roles that some other being has written for us, right?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | 11
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Not some other being, no. The universe is governed by physical laws, none of which are supernatural. And which may be different from place to place.
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Scott Gray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2012
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Posts: 88
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| Posted: 12 June 2026 at 5:51pm | IP Logged | 12
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So if it isn't someone else's will directing us, I guess that means we're the ones doing the driving, yes?
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